


To Fight Gravity

by MedievalFangirl



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Mutant Powers, Pietro Maximoff Lives, Reminiscing, Why?, because I say so, fear of storms
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 06:04:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20466239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MedievalFangirl/pseuds/MedievalFangirl
Summary: The dust has settled after Sokovia, leaving Steve and Nat to train the new Avengers. Their most recent recruit may be able to manipulate gravity, but falling for Pietro Maximoff was entirely out of her control.





	To Fight Gravity

**Author's Note:**

> I am... nervous as all heck to be entering a new fandom. But here we go! The word count got out of hand, things got all angsty and I don’t know what to say. 
> 
> Based on the prompt: ‘I don’t want to be alone right now’ for waiting4inspiration's 2k follower challenge. Go and follow her over on tumblr for some amazing, juicy stories. I'm over on tumblr too, medievalfangirl is the name and chaos posting is the game.

Lightning split the night. For a moment, the sky was a stunning array of lilacs and violets against a pitch black backdrop. The sharp light faded as soon as it appeared, and blessed silence followed. Seven seconds followed before the booming clap of thunder. The storm was a little over a mile from the Avengers compound. 

Curled up in the corner of one enormous, communal sofa, Danielle watched the skies with a fierce intensity. Her hands sat in her lap, twisting the hem of her baggy sleep shirt, bothering the fabric until threads came loose. Wide eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. Her appearance did nothing to keep her secret: she was  _ terrified.  _

The sound of thunder permeated her senses and shook her bones; it reached into her chest, took hold of her heart, and took her right back to that awful day. How  _ similar  _ they sounded. 

Even now, years later, the acoustics of a storm sent her mind spiralling to a place of dark memories and paralysing fear. Solace came through  _ seeing _ the foul weather, a visual assurance that she was here and not back there. But this storm had rolled in from the east, and her north-facing windows hadn’t provided her that comfort. So she’d sought the floor-to-ceiling glass of the recreation area. The nagging voice warning her that someone could find her was drowned out by the torrential rain. 

Footsteps against the carpet broke the tense silence between lightning strikes, and panic shot through her. Even after a year at the compound Dani was still the newest recruit - the last thing she wanted was for one of the others to see her this vulnerable. Whoever was approaching would find her in seconds - why couldn’t she move? Why couldn’t she stand and walk away? It was as if she was shackled to that spot on the sofa. How ironic, for a mutant who could manipulate gravity to feel so betrayed by her own power. 

Tearing wide eyes from the sky, the young woman watched Pietro Maximoff pad around into the compound’s open-plan living space, yawning widely. His unique silver hair was tousled and wayward; a shaggy, endearing mess. Eyes that were usually alert were hooded. 

_ Of course.  _

The universe likes to play games, and Danielle knew for  _ sure  _ it was toying with her now. Pietro was both the best, and the  _ worst _ , person who could’ve rounded that corner. His presence would be a balm to her spirit she knew, but she hated the thought of him seeing her like this. 

After a rocky start (the Maximoff Twins were  _ not  _ naturally trusting) a friendship blossomed between the trio. She’d certainly made a good friend in Wanda. The redhead’s brother however, had stolen Dani’s heart the same way he stole Clint’s arrows: out of nowhere and in a flurry of sparks. They were just friends... who happened to find any excuse for mundane touches, and couldn’t hold a conversation without teasing flirtation creeping in somewhere. She knew others read their friendship as something more - from an outsider’s perspective, the way they lit up around one another was unmistakable. She hoped there was more there, too; she was hopelessly devoted to the speeding idiot. But the risk of rejection was horrifying enough to keep her quiet. 

“Danielle?” 

The young woman’s head shot up, his voice startling her out of her reminiscing. Pietro was unusually still, watching her from the entrance to the room. He looked off-balance, like he couldn’t quite make sense of what he was seeing. 

How did she make her mouth move? Her tongue was a dead weight, stuck in place just like she was. The frown lines maring Pietro’s forehead deepened. 

A shock of lightning illuminated the sky, bright light framing his silhouette. Dani flinched sharply, pressing her body backwards, as if she could disappear into the cushions if she just tried hard enough. She felt  _ sick, _ the anticipation twisting her stomach into knots. 

The Sokovian vanished in a burst of electric blue and silver. Not a heartbeat later he was crouched in front of her, worry plastered across his handsome face. One hand rested against the cushions for balance, the other curled around her knee, thumb rubbing soothing circles against the exposed skin. 

“What’s wrong? Talk to me, what can I do?” 

She had to say something.  _ Anything  _ was better than sitting mute, scared out of her mind, in the face of one of the strongest people she knew.

As it tends to, thunder followed the lightning. The terror was under her skin now, racing through her veins. Shirt abandoned, her hands flew to her mouth. It was a futile attempt to push the sobs back in. 

Bright blue flashes lit the dark room, and the cushions beside her dipped. Strong arms wrapped around her back, tugging her towards him. She followed with no protest, pressing herself close. Pietro traced her spine with one hand, running his fingers along the notches. 

“ Som tu . If someone’s hurt you, then I’ll deal with them.” His other hand tightened at her waist, fisting the material of her shirt. “ Bude to v poriadku. I promise.”

Sleep tinged his voice, adding gravel to it. His accent pulled at each word, both English and Sokovian. Neither of these things detracted from his obvious concern. 

Even though Dani understood few of the words the Sokovian murmured into her hair, she heard their meaning, and felt a little of their calming intent. His voice washed over her skin like a wave against the shore. The affection this man was bestowing upon her, t he way he held her so tightly but carefully, like she was something precious he couldn’t bare to drop… it resonated with her. Something warm pushed its way into her heart, forcing her fear to share its lodgings. 

Thunder echoed directly over the compound. The storm was here. 

Danielle flinched again, ripping her arms from the non-existent space between them and throwing them around her companion’s neck. A feather-light kiss to the top of her head, softly delivered between soothing words, was the key to the floodgates. Whatever tight little thing had wound its way around her voice relaxed and words came tumbling forth. 

“Pietro please, _ don’t leave _ .  **I don’t want to be alone right now. ** I  _ can’t _ be alone right now. **”**

The words were mumbled into the curve of his neck, shaky and unsure. Her lips were pressed so closely to his skin she wondered if he’d even heard her. 

The world was in motion, too fast, before settling again. Disoriented, the young mutant raised her head to find Pietro had pulled her into his lap. Dizziness pushed at her temples and the skin at her side felt cool, shifting fabric tickling the tiny hairs. Her shirt had a small rip, a casualty of super speed. 

It hardly mattered. 

What mattered was the man holding her, anchoring her down when she felt the fierce winds outside could just blow her away. Thick brows were knitted, the crease of skin in between almost pulling them to touch. Crystalline blue eyes were restless across her face, taking in her every detail before settling on hers. 

“I would  _ never  _ leave you.” 

Pietro’s voice was a whisper in the night, but she heard steel there too. Sincerity tinged with a fierce protectiveness made his words sound like a promise. Dani believed him. 

For something that caused so much trouble, the storm was short lived. They were graced with just four more rumbles of thunder, each taking longer than the last to arrive. The quiet was filled instead with soothing touches and murmured comforts. Eventually, when the last thunder-clap was a fading memory, Dani began to speak. After sitting and waiting out her greatest fear with her, her companion at least deserved to know  _ why  _ it scared her so much. Eyes stormy in their own right, she watched the skyline. 

“When I was young, before I went to Xavier’s school... I didn’t have the best control over my mutation. It’s silly, because I can’t even remember what set me off now. My hands started to glow and then the whole room started quaking. The walls were shaking, the roof was caving in and I had no  _ idea  _ what to do. The teacher took the other kids and ran. I was so scared and confused and that just made it worse.”

The young mutant paused to focus on the grounding feel of Pietro’s hands. He was rarely motionless, and now was no exception as his hands ghosted across her skin. All that energy, channeled into the careful offering of reassurance. 

“I collapsed the building, pushing the gravity up so high the whole thing just came crashing down. No one else was inside. I only survived because most of the debris fell around me, instead of on top of me. Charles always thought I was subconsciously protecting myself. I was still crushed, though - you can see the scars.” 

With an unreadable expression, Pietro raised the hand from her hip to skim her jaw, before slowly turning her head. Fingers mapped the puckered white lines marking the skin connecting her jaw and neck. 

“Here?” 

Dani nodded mutely. His touch was silver fire, burning hotter than the sun as he traced a path to her collar bone. 

“And here?”

Capturing his hand, she slid it along the bone until it rested on the bumpy skin just above her sternum. She was close enough to see galaxies swirling in his eyes, an entire cosmos of emotion and mystery to unravel. How badly she wanted to know him. Her grip on his hand tightened. 

“Thunder sounds an awful lot like a collapsing building.”

“The compound won’t collapse. And if it did, I’d have you outside before a speck of dust could touch you.” 

Like a dove in her hand, peace settled in her chest and set about the task of chasing away the shadows. 

“You’re too good to me,” she murmured, a little overwhelmed by how much that had sounded like another promise. 

“Probably,” Pietro agreed, poking her side, and a small smile broke across Dani’s face. 

Yawning widely, her sleepless night began to make itself known. 

“You’re tired.”

The young woman stiffened, before shaking her head rapidly against his shoulder. “I’m staying here.” 

“ _ We’re  _ staying here.” 

_ We.  _

It  _ had  _ been a promise. 

But as much as she was thankful he was here,  _ god was she thankful,  _ she couldn’t help but feel guilty. The storm was over but still she couldn’t bring herself to move. He was sacrificing a good night’s sleep to deal with her. 

“I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with all of this, I-”

“Last week you moved the fridge a few inches, knowing I’d run into it,” he remarked dryly, interrupting her before she could work herself up. “This is  _ fine _ .” 

Dani laughed softly. It was immediately followed by a yawn that proved contagious, reminding them both of how tired they were. 

The air crackled as Pietro blurred across the room. He dragged the other sofa over to push them together, giving them more space to sleep. Through bleary eyes the mutant watched, head propped on her arm, tendrils of sleep wrapping around her. She was hardly aware of herself drifting off. From somewhere far away, she felt gentle pressure moving loose hair from her face. 

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought! 
> 
> Until next time loves.


End file.
